The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a Mount Vernon public school science teacher who was fired three years ago for promoting the theory of creationism and refusing to remove religious materials from his classroom.

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a Mount Vernon public school science teacher who was fired for promoting the theory of creationism and refusing to remove religious materials from his classroom.

The justices on Monday let stand an Ohio Supreme Court ruling that found the Mount Vernon school district had grounds to fire John Freshwater in 2011 for insubordination for keeping religious books and a poster of a praying president.

The state court said the district infringed on Freshwater’s First Amendment rights by ordering him to remove his personal Bible from his desk, but found he was insubordinate for keeping the other items.

Freshwater’s attorney had argued that the firing violated the teacher’s free speech rights.

The Ohio Supreme Court has scheduled a February hearing in the more than four-year-old case of a public school science teacher who was fired for preaching religious beliefs and failing to comply with district orders.

The Ohio Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing in the case of a fired public school science teacher who kept a Bible on his desk and was accused of preaching religious beliefs in class.

The Mount Vernon School Board dismissed John Freshwater last year after investigators reported he preached Christian beliefs in class when discussing topics such as evolution and homosexuality and was insubordinate in failing to remove the Bible from his classroom.

Two lower courts previously upheld the dismissal, but the state Supreme Court has agreed to hear a portion of Freshwater’s claims over his firing.